It’s easy to forget that before Jony Ive remade Apple’s aesthetic in cool aluminum during the mid-aughts, the company’s design comeback actually started in 1998, with the plastic iMac G3, which featured a friendly handle on top. At first, it was released in “Bondi Blue.” Then sales rose by 24% when the company offered the iMac in more colors. Now, for the first time in roughly 20 years, Apple is bringing color back to its iMacs.
In some ways, it was inevitable that Apple would bring back color to its iMacs. The company injected color into its iPhones in a big way last year, plus, trends always run in cycles. But it also makes sense that Apple made this decision now, because what we consider “good design” in electronics is a moving target. All sorts of trends are coalescing to challenge cold, metal electronics. And even Apple, the godfather of cold, metal electronics, has to acknowledge that.
Color is in, which is reason enough
As Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Color Institute, explained to us two years ago, color is in. She pointed to the influence of social media platforms such as Instagram, with blindingly bright colors, as both causing and demonstrating this consumer preference. “If you’re just using grays and beiges, you’re just going to meld into the background and get lost,” she said at the time. And as Pressman said, rather presciently, color can feel both optimistic and calming during a time of global upheaval. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the unease she identified two years ago, at the height of the Trump administration. Nobody gets a spiritual uplift from more gray.
This is how Apple is maximalist
Another trend afoot is maximalism, which we’ve seen in interior design for years now. Maximalism, in a nutshell, is the polar opposite of Apple’s minimalist aesthetic. It’s about big, bold shapes and even clashing patterns for the sake of overt expression, rather than pared-back forms that are meant to blend in and not offend you.
Even Apple can’t ignore gaming aesthetics
When I first saw Apple’s new purple keyboard, my brain went to an unlikely place: Logitech. Logitech’s gaming line, which launched last year, imagines keyboards and headsets in all sorts of colors, including lilac.
Now, I personally don’t love the aesthetics of video-gaming equipment. The glowing headsets, rainbow LED keyboards, and inexplicable race-car-style chairs (which, incidentally, are all right in line with maximalist trends) are just not my thing. But I recognize they are an aesthetic that resonates with a lot of people—especially people who live their lives watching Twitch streams. Gaming peripherals are poised to be a $7.1 billion market by 2026.
Colorful iMacs and keyboards allow Apple to dip its toe into the overt aesthetics beloved by gamers without selling its soul. (Though let’s be honest with ourselves, a rainbow-glowing iMac would probably sell out in minutes.)
Working from home shouldn’t look like work
It might be hard to sell your office manager or IT team on a fire-engine-red computer. But it’s much easier to sell yourself on the idea. And that’s all that might matter for the foreseeable future.
During the pandemic, we’ve seen a big transition as people began working from home andfurnishing their homeswithnewdesks, room dividers, videoconferencing equipment, and all sorts of other office items. Last July, “desk” was reportedly thesecond-most-searched producton Amazon after “face mask.” But nobody wants to actually live at their office, and so we need new designs that make work things feel less like we’re at work. Colorful iMacs are a way to be expressive—heck, downright joyful—with your computer selection. As for the specific colors Apple chose, you can see some precedent in home decor. Just check outthe approach taken by Hay, which pairs rich colors with pastels in a similar way.While I’m sure I’ll still find some excuse to frown the day away in front of an iMac that glows like the sun, it will have nothing to do with the computer’s paint job. The new iMac line imagines that working from home could feel fun again.
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